The Migrante Sectoral Party criticizes Malacanang for trying to project that the ongoing Malaysian crackdown on 500,000 undocumented Filipino migrants is humane and that no Filipino will be harmed.

There is nothing humane in a crackdown on migrants if this happens in any country. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through her spokesman Ignacio Bunye, continues to peddle lies on the ongoing crackdown in Malaysia that targets an estimated 1.6 million undocumented migrant workers who face arrest, detention, torture by caning and deportation.

It must be noted that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has declared that "the Malaysian government will crack down hard on million undocumented migrants." These migrants come mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines. Others are from Burma (Myanmar), Bangladesh, Nepal, India, East Timor and Sri Lanka.

The Philippine government is only harping on "re-employment of deportees in Sabah," "high-level talks," "assurances from the Malaysian government" and other non-essential moves that will never protect our undocumented compatriots in the whole of Malaysia.

We have gathered reports from officials of non-government organizations Tenaganita (Women's Force) in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) in Hong Kong that the Philippine government is trying its best to keep from the public:

1. All the jails and penitentiaries are filled to the brim even before the crackdown that started on March 1. The Malaysian government is seeking out vacant houses and buildings to place undocumented workers it has seized from factories, plantations, restaurants, clubs and construction sites;

2. The 560,000-strong People's Volunteer Corps (also called Relas) who are tasked to implement the crackdown will be given 80 ringgits daily honorarium and will be rewarded 100 ringgits (P1,430) per undocumented migrant arrested;

3. The Relas have not been trained in humane arrest procedures, respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. Hence, the crackdown is highly open to abuse of authority and due process will not be observed;

4. Those Filipinos who are undocumented will be subjected to arrest, a minimum 14-day detention, caning and deportation. Those who entered as documented workers but have overstayed will not be caned. But there are no procedures on how to distinguish between undocumented workers and overstayers and those who ran away from abusive employers;

5. At least 800 Filipina domestic workers were documented by Tenaganita of having cases of unpaid wages. Their visas were not renewed and most have gone undocumented; and

6. Those who opt for legalization of their status must pay up to 3,000 ringgits (P42,900) to the Malaysian government.

How can Malacanang say that the conditions of undocumented migrants -- who are clinging to jobs in the construction, plantation and service industries in the face of unemployment in the country - is not a worrisome situation?

Most of the undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia hail from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and other poor provinces of the Philippines.

MIGRANTE, along with Tenaganita and other human rights groups are calling on the Malaysian government to stop the crackdown and respect the human rights of undocumented migrants of Malaysia.

MIGRANTE also calls on Malacanang to provide the truthful picture of what the 500,000 undocumented Filipinos face in Malaysia and not confine the issue to those in Sabah alone. It should also push for an end to the crackdown on undocumented workers in Malaysia and pursue stable job creation in the Philippines. #